


They were thrifted!

by Mintyaegyo



Series: He’s an Addict [9]
Category: ATEEZ (Band)
Genre: Barista AU, Barista!Hongjoong, Barista!San, Cafe AU, Drinking, Drunk characters, Headaches, Light Anxiety, M/M, Parties, Woosan, author likes to write drunk characters, barista!jongho, chaotic wooyoung, drunk banter, hangovers, hongjoong gets clowned for his style, hongjoong’s daily routine, hongjoong’s mullet, hongjoong’s plaid pants, mentions of vomit, sickfick but only kinda, there’s a karen, wooyoung is a clingy drunk
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-12
Updated: 2020-06-12
Packaged: 2021-03-03 20:20:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,573
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24671461
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mintyaegyo/pseuds/Mintyaegyo
Summary: “Is there a ghost behind me, Jongho-yah?” Hongjoong asks, tilting his head with an amused expression, sandy blonde bangs falling into his eyes.“No but there’s just…so much plaid…”
Relationships: Choi San/Jung Wooyoung
Series: He’s an Addict [9]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1743106
Comments: 4
Kudos: 38





	They were thrifted!

Hongjoong woke up to the sound of birds chirping outside his apartment window. He groans and stretches his arms out before running a hand through his dirty blonde hair, mussed up from sleep. He yawns, dragging himself out of bed to figure out what to wear for the day. He checks his alarm clock on the bedside table, telling him it was six in the morning, though it was hard to read, the screen slightly obscured by a pile of notebooks and a half empty mug of his late night chamomile. He grumbles to himself, sliding on a pair of black slacks and a soft t-shirt, a plaid shirt over top before he grabs his backpack and makes his way to the bathroom to brush his teeth. 

When he’s finished getting ready, he makes his way down to the parking lot where his old beat up car is parked- it’s red, like the color he wants to dye his hair. He unlocks it, gets in and plugs his phone into the aux cord. He spends the ten minute drive singing along to 80’s music. Since it was a nice day, the window had been rolled down a little and his hair fluttered a little in the wind. As he parks, he turns the car off and pulls the keys out. He makes his way to the door of the cafe, fiddling with the keychain in his hand to find the one that unlocks the cafe. 

“Aha!” He makes a happy noise of discovery as it’s found, and opens the door, turning the light switch on as he comes inside. He still had about half an hour before opening (It was 6:30 and the hours were 7-9.) so he locks the door behind him and makes his way to the office to deposit his backpack and make himself a green tea as he goes over the numbers. San wasn’t in until 7 or 7:30, he couldn’t remember, but it was Friday today. It was Friday, right? Hongjoong thinks to himself as he turns the old computer on, setting up his phone to play music once more. 

He curses to himself as he accidentally closes the email screen and has to log in again, standing up to stretch his arms, pulling his hair into the little ponytail it’s always in. The store was opening soon, and despite it being early in the day, Hongjoong was in a good mood, it was Friday after all, and they didn’t open until 9 on Saturdays. 

Hongjoong putters around for a while, counting the till and making sure the float was even, setting up the POS and making sure the milk and the coffee machines were fully stocked. He hums to himself, turning on the sound system before he checks the time, and goes to unlock the door. The first customers won’t come in for another while, he knows. Most people in this town weren’t early risers but sometimes the odd person would come in before 8am and Hongjoong himself wasn’t one to sleep in late, despite his habit of being nocturnal sometimes. He wanders back to the counter and leans against it, checking his phone to make sure nobody’s texted him they weren’t coming for their shift, and waiting for San to show up. He ties his green apron around his small waist and reties his ponytail.

San saunters in a few minutes later, looking tired but showing Hongjoong a genuine dimpled smile. He’s

wearing the same black skinny jeans he always wears, and a black hoodie is falling off his shoulder. He walks behind the counter to clock in. 

“Morning, San” Hongjoong smiles up at the younger barista. San smiles and waves. 

“Morning, hyung” San yawns and stretches his arms with a baby dinosaur groan and ties his apron on. “TGIF~” He says cheerily and Hongjoong snorts. 

“You’re in a good mood today, huh. Did Wooyoung do something disgusting to you this morning?” Hongjoong chuckles, wrinkling his nose. 

“Hyung!” San whines shyly, shaking his head. “No, he didn’t stay over last night. We’re gonna hang out tonight with Jongho and a couple of his friends, so I’m excited for that. You’re invited if you want to come too” San explains to him, fixing himself a cup of water to start his day off. Hongjoong hums and nods. 

“We close at 9, that isn’t too late to come, right?”

“Jongho is also closing with you, you’ll be fine. It’s not like we’ve never done this before” San says with a soft laugh, waving at a customer who’s walking through the door. “There’s not much to prepare, other than like, making sure we have enough to eat and drink.” Hongjoong nods with a soft noise of affirmation. 

“Alright, alright, y’all will probably need a babysitter anyways. Is your loverboy just as chaotic when he’s drunk as he is when he’s had two lattes?” 

~ 

A few hours later Jongho comes in, just as there’s a customer complaining to San about how they weren’t a fan of the Spicy Peanutbutter Frappuccino . San is trying to keep himself from getting snippy with the customer, and Jongho chuckles to himself, shaking his head as he clocks himself in. 

“I’m sorry ma’am, do you want me to make a different drink for you?” 

“No, I want my money back, it was disgusting!” the customer huffs, and San visibly cringes, letting out a soft sigh. The lady gets all up in his space. “I don’t know where you get off on serving shit like this!” 

_Well, you ordered it…_ San thought as he nods, to the complaint. “Uh, let me get my manager.” He tells her, turning to Jongho, who’s looking at the cleaning list. He was going to tell the younger to get Hongjoong, but Hongjoong had come out of the office at just the right time, probably hearing the lady raise her voice. 

“What seems to be the problem here?” Hongjoong asks sweetly, turning to the lady as he steps up behind San. And although Hongjoong was shorter, and arguably nicer, he could look quite threatening when he wanted to, even next to San. 

“Your barista here made me something disgusting!” She huffs, lifting up the half drunk frappuccino. Hongjoong nods, making a noise. 

“I’m sorry about that, ma’am.” Hongjoong says, using his nicest voice possible. It sounded almost genuine, if San didn’t know how much Hongjoong actually hated this shit. 

“She wants her money back.” San offers dumbly, feeling a little bad that he had been the one the complaint was about. Sure, it happens but he still feels like the worst person ever who’s bad at his job when it does, even if it wasn’t his fault. Except it définitely was. He grips his wrist and digs his nails into the skin, biting his lip as he worried. Hongjoong catches the look in San’s eyes and nods at him. San looks down at his feet. 

“I’ll comp it.” Hongjoong says simply, looking at the lady. “But you did drink half of it?” She makes a face and huffs, exasperated. San makes a small noise in the back of his throat, not moving. Hongjoong goes to the till, ringing in the ‘return’, pulling out the exact change for the customer. “Here you are, ma’am, apologies for the trouble.” She pulls it out of his hand and stomps off, tossing her cup in the trash. After she leaves, Hongjoong runs a hand through his ponytail and sighs. “What a miserable lady.”

San nods, silent as he holds onto his wrist, eyes cast down towards his scuffed Converse. He can hear the chatter of Jongho helping a customer behind him, grabbing a cup. He can hear the sound of the music around the cafe clearly, and feel his heartbeat through his shirt. _I can’t even do my job properly, why am I here? She yelled at me and made me feel like shit._

“San?” Hongjoong asks, tilting his head as he questions the younger. San looks up from his shoes. 

“Hm? I’m really sorry, hyung.” San murmurs.

“It’s alright, she was a bitch. You didn’t do anything wrong, San. We both know that drink is disgusting.” Hongjoong chuckles softly, patting San’s shoulder. San pouts, nodding as he takes a breath in. 

“A-are you sure? I feel like I messed up, I didn’t make it right or something and she singled me out.” San whines softly, biting his lip again. He smooths out his apron. 

“Because she’s a miserable lady.” Hongjoong says, wrinkling his nose. “Her husband probably hates her, and that haircut was awful.” He offers, as if that would help. San gives him a weak smile, nodding. 

“H-hyung, you have a mullet..” San takes another breath to calm his heart, half snorting. “You can’t say anything about anyone’s haircut.”

“My style is _avante garde_ , and it looks great on me, screw you.” Hongjoong quips back with a chuckle, rubbing San’s shoulder. The younger barista leaned into the touch. San lets out a soft giggle, scoffing. “There’s a smile, do you need to go sit down for a bit?” Hongjoong asks, knowing San was sensitive to any sort of criticism from customers. San shakes his head. 

“‘m okay, hyung.. but i’m not going to work till for the next bit so I don’t have to deal with anyone.” Hongjoong nods. 

“That’s okay, Iooks like Jongho’s got it handled.”

~ 

It was around 6 now, and pretty slow since it was Friday, so Hongjoong was sweeping up the floor, San was cleaning the tables. Jongho remained at the till, wiping down the machines. Wooyoung shows up, letting out an excited whoop as he walks in the door. 

“Helloooo, everyone!” Wooyoung saunters over to San and hugs him from behind. San squeaks, but grins. 

“Hey, Woo~” San murmurs, a big smile appearing of his face. 

“I missed you Sannie~” Wooyoung says brightly, letting go of his boyfriend. “Are you all excited for tonight?” He asks, addressing the other two males in the cafe. 

“Heck yeah! Just don’t knock over my entire kitchen table again, okay?” Jongho laughs from the counter, shaking his head at Wooyoung. 

“It was one time!” Wooyoung huffs, pouting his soft lips. “And it wasn’t on purpose!”

“The entire bottle of vodka AND the Chinese food fell off and spilled! My kitchen still smells like it.. I can’t even eat there anymore…” Jongho laments and Hongjoong snorts. San just fondly smacks Wooyoung in the arm. 

“Just as I suspected, chaotic.” Hongjoong chuckles, shaking his head as he leans against the broom, blonde bangs falling into his eyes. 

“Hongjoong hyung, it was one time!” Wooyoung protests loudly. San giggles. 

“And then you threw up in the hall-“ Jongho continues, obviously scarred for life from the night’s happenings. 

“I’m starting to think that you don’t want me to come” Wooyoung pouts jokingly at Jongho, heading over to the counter with his arms folded like a child. “I promise I’ll stay away from the kitchen table this time.” He makes puppy eyes at the younger barista, and Jongho can’t help but just shake his head fondly. 

“Fine, fine.. you’re always invited, even if you’re a dumbass.” Wooyoung grins triumphantly and San giggles, finishing up wiping the tables. “

“I’ll make sure he behaves, don’t worry Jongho~” San says with a grin. Jongho rolls his eyes and snorts. 

“Is it because you’ll be making out in the bedroom the entire time?” Jongho asks, hands on his hips. San turns a bright shade of red and whines. Wooyoung smirks, but blushes as well. Hongjoong wrinkles his nose in disgust and cackles. 

“Anyways kids, there’s three hours before close so.. make sure the cafe is clean and stocked, yeah?” Hongjoong asks with a fond smile and the two that actually work for him nod with a chorus of ‘Yes, hyung’

~

When the clock hits nine, Hongjoong goes over to the door to lock it up, letting out a loud sigh as he does. He was so ready to finish up the day here, and despite the boys calling him old, he was actually pretty excited to go to the get together with them all and let loose for once. San had gone home with Wooyoung at seven, and Jongho was checking to make sure the bathrooms were empty and everything was clean. When Hongjoong finishes locking up, he goes to the till to run the closing reports and put the cash tray in the safe in the office. 

“Hyung, everything’s all clean” Jongho comes up behind him, untying his apron as he smiles. “Almost done?”

“Yep, just another couple minutes.” Hongjoong nods, rolling his shoulders to stretch them. “Then we can head on out” He grins. 

“Sounds good, hyung!” 

After a few more minutes and the cash is safe and locked up, Hongjoong’s plaid shirt is back on his shoulders and Jongho’s got his backpack on. They nod at each other in understanding and Hongjoong opens the door to let Jongho out, following and locking the door behind them. Jongho makes his way to his ride where a friend was waiting for him. 

“I’ll see you in an hour, right hyung?” He asks before getting in. 

“Yep, I’ll be there” Hongjoong confirms with a grin, giving Jongho two thumbs up. Jongho nods and waves at him before he closes the door of the car and Hongjoong gets into his own car, starting it and getting ready to drive home. 

~

Wooyoung spins in front of San’s mirror, checking out the way his butt looks in the tight jeans he’d chosen, sipping on a Red Bull in his hand. San hadn’t approved of the energy drink, but he let it slide because they’d be drinking tonight which wasn’t healthy anyways. He gives wooyoung two approving thumbs up from the bed where he’s trying to decide between two different shirts. 

“You look hot as heck, Woo” San hums approvingly, holding up a plain black t-shirt and making a face, tilting his head. “You look really good in blue” Wooyoung grins brightly at him, cheeks blushing as he sips his Red Bull. 

“Thank you, Sannie~” Wooyoung hums with his blush. “You know.. you could just wear no shirt, right?” San lets out a squawk, cheeks turning dark red, but making no effort to hide his body from his boyfriend. 

“I don’t know if the others will approve~” He hums with a chuckle as he pulls the black t-shirt over his shoulders, head peeking out with his dark hair artfully messy. Wooyoung giggles and winks. 

“Don’t care~ Are you ready to go yet?” Wooyoung plops himself down on the carpet in front of the mirror, downing the rest of his drink and setting the can on the floor. San stands up and nods, checking his phone that was plugged in on his bedside table.

~ 

The music was louder than it should be, and Jongho was leaning against his counter sipping on a beer as he laughed at something San had said. Wooyoung was sitting on the counter next to them, swaying and attempting to body roll at the same time to the Bruno Mars song, but failing. Jongho cringed and yelled, pretending to go throw his beer at Wooyoung. who just cackled loudly, throwing his head back. San crouched down on the floor to giggle at both of them. 

Hongjoong knocked on the door before smoothing out his shirt. He spent his entire life just working in the cafe so he often got excited to dress up a little when he did actually leave the apartment for another reason. That’s why when Jongho went to open the door to greet Hongjoong, he honest-to-god shrieked. 

“Is there a ghost behind me, Jongho-yah?” Hongjoong asks, tilting his head with an amused expression, sandy blonde bangs falling into his eyes. 

“No but there’s just…so much plaid…” Jongho trails off, blinking at his manager. Wooyoung had wandered over to the door to check out the commotion, leaning his smaller body against Jongho’s and waving a hand lazily at Hongjoong, while simultaneously giving him a ‘sup nod. 

“Hyung, you look like 2005.” He says simply. Hongjoong lets out an offended squawk, gesturing to his outfit that he actually felt pleased with, classic plaid slacks and a white t-shirt, with black and white striped sleeves underneath. His hair was out of the ponytail and his mullet just grazed the back of his neck. 

“I look fantastic, thank you very much!” Hongjoong huffs with a fond chuckle, walking past the youngest two inside Jongho’s apartment and bending over to untie his Converse. “Plaid is a classic pattern, it’s timeless.” 

“Sure, Jan.” Jongho laughs, shaking his head as he goes back to assume his position by the counter. Wooyoung just snorts and giggles loudly, opening his arms as he nears San by the counter and wrapping them around his taller boyfriend’s neck, nuzzling into it. San grins and sips his drink, letting Wooyoung drape himself all over his body. “Ah, and hyung, there’s beer in the fridge and the vodka is by the microwave on the counter, feel free to do your thing” 

“Thanks” Hongjoong hums, sauntering into the kitchen a moment later and hopping onto a stool. “I’ll grab a drink in a moment, how’re you all doing aside from not understanding fashion?” San lets out a giggle and shakes his head. 

“We’re doing good, thanks, hyung” San says with a dimpled smile, blushing as Wooyoung- who’s only had one drink- tries to kiss on his neck. Jongho glares at them in offense and San just laughs and pats Wooyoung’s jean-clad thigh where he can reach. Hongjoong’s eyes flit to Wooyoung questioningly. “He’s fine, don’t worry~” 

Wooyoung takes that opportunity to bite San’s ear, causing the elder to squeak shyly, going red from the neck up. Hongjoong pretends to gag and hops off the stool to pour himself a drink at the counter.

“Man, I really need a drink now…ah, my eyes…” Hongjoong mutters, shaking his head. Wooyoung cackles like a seal, throwing his head back as he laughs. San smacks him fondly in the arm.

“Believe me, hyung, i’ve been gagging over it all night” Jongho laments darkly as he leans against the counter. “Do you want Sprite or cola?” 

“Sprite” Hongjoong nods up at Jongho, playing with the ends of his hair as he grabs a cup. 

~ 

“Hyung?” Jongho asks as he drapes himself across the chair he’s on like a cat. He looks up at Hongjoong with big eyes. 

“Hn?” Hongjoong hums, tipping back the last of his beer and making a face at the aftertaste. He flips his hair out of his eyes as he sits cross legged on the floor in front of Jongho. 

“I really think your pants are weird” Jongho says bluntly, blinking his eyes. 

“We should burn them.” Yeosang pipes up from the right side of Wooyoung, in the middle of nibbling on a Twizzler stick. Hongjoong makes a squawk of offence and Wooyoung cackles into San’s neck. San nods in agreement. 

“I got them from a thrift shop, I’ll never find them again!” Hongjoong huffs, not getting up from the floor- he looked more like a petulant child who’d gotten scolded rather than the manager for half these kids. 

“Good!” San calls out with a laugh, standing up. He places his third beer on the coffee table and saunters over to Hongjoong, kneeling down in front of him. Wooyoung whines loudly at the loss of contact, being an affectionate drunk until San speaks again. “Guys, help me get them off him- we’re gonna get rid of these babies once and for all.” He tugs on Hongjoong’s pant leg with a wild giggle. Wooyoung tumbles off the couch and stumbles towards San to help, giggling the entire time. 

“Yah! Choi San, if you strip my pants off, you’re fired!” Hongjoong whines, kicking his legs as the couple try to pull the plaid fabric off. “And if I don’t fire you, you’re going to have to deal with all the customer service complaints!”

Jongho shares a look with Yeosang across the room and they both snort laugh, watching the chaos unfold. Eventually San and Wooyoung get bored of torturing poor Hongjoong when he sits up and pulls them both off him by their artfully messy hair. 

“Who knew hyung’s baby hands were so strong?” Wooyoung quips and Hongjoong lunges at him again, hiking his pants up as he sits up and San curls into himself on the floor from laughing so hard. Hongjoong chases Wooyoung all the way into the bathroom before Wooyoung gives him a giggly drunken apology. Jongho gets up to check on them, shaking his head the entire time. 

“Y’all are a bunch of children, honestly. How am I the youngest here?” He chuckles, sipping his mixed drink calmly as he pushes the two back into the living room. 

“Do they need a time out?” Yeosang asks from the couch, grinning up at Jongho. 

“No!” Wooyoung and Hongjoong both chorus with a huff, Wooyoung moving to flop on Yeosang’s lap. San is still laughing to himself on the floor, finding the entire ordeal extremely hilarious until he makes himself throw up from laughing so hard and Jongho throws several pillows at him and the chaos starts all over again. 

~ 

It’s four in the morning, Jongho and Hongjoong are cleaning all the drinks up and making sure the kitchen is tidied up before going to sleep. There was only five hours until the cafe opened for the day, but again Hongjoong was half nocturnal. He wipes down the counter like it was second nature and stretches out his arms. Jongho sips on a glass of water and hums along to the music that was still playing in the background. 

Yeosang had fallen asleep on the couch, curled up like a child as he snored softly, his arms around the pillow that had been thrown at San earlier. Wooyoung and San had gone to the bedroom and were tangled up in each other, also asleep. Wooyoung was on his back, black hair fanned out over the pillow and San was wrapped around him, his black t-shirt off and forgotten on the floor somewhere. Wooyoung’s button up was unbuttoned half way down his chest. They looked just as debauched as they had been a couple hours earlier- they had been banished to the bedroom because they were making out on the counter, after all. 

Jongho finished his water and goes to splash water on his face and brush his teeth before he goes on to rest. Hongjoong turns the lights off and grabs the other couch pillow and takes up a spot on the floor next to the couch Yeosang was on and curling up under a blanket. He didn’t mind sleeping on the floor at all, he could pretty much fall asleep anywhere without trouble when he wanted to. (If he wanted to.)

~

Hongjoong had left Jongho’s apartment at around 8, running on three hours of sleep so he could go home and get changed. He’s set up the store to be opened for nine, when San starting at 10 and Jongho at 12. 

Jongho is already awake, singing to himself as he cooks breakfast for everyone in the kitchen, and Wooyoung awakens to the smell of eggs and bacon. He smiles and stretches, rubbing his eyes sleepily as he sits up, San’s shirtless body still clinging to him. Wooyoung kisses San’s messy hair and tries to roll out of bed before his stomach rolls and he has to make a stop in the bathroom to throw up before he goes to the kitchen. San remains asleep. 

Wooyoung stumbles to the bathroom, closing the door and kneeling down, gagging the night before’s mixed drinks and alcohol, he curses and whines, pushing back his sweaty bangs before he stands up and looks at himself in the mirror. He chuckles to himself, then going to the kitchen where Jongho was. 

“Are you.. good?” Jongho asks, turning to Wooyoung with a concerned look in his big brown eyes. The bacon sizzles tantalizingly in the pan. Wooyoung nods and flops down over the counter ungracefully. “What about San?” Wooyoung shrugs, about to tell Jongho that San was still asleep, when the older barista wanders into the kitchen with a pout on his face and a whine, black jeans slung low against his hips. 

“San is fine.” San whines and drapes himself over Wooyoung’s sweaty body and closes his eyes. Jongho shakes his head fondly. He knows San is prone to getting hungover. “Woo, will you go to work for me?” 

“Fuck no, I feel like shit” Wooyoung laughs, cuddling San close. 

“You smell like puke, gross.” San huffs, moving away from his boyfriend to grab himself a glass of water. 

“Ibuprofen is in the cupboard.” Jongho hums absently as he serves the food onto plates for them. San makes an affirming noise and quickly grabs it. 

“At least I didn’t puke on the floor..” Wooyoung quips at San lazily, looking up as Jongho serves him. 

“ _This_ time.” San quips back, popping the pills in his mouth and chugging the water. 

“Next time, we’re having the party at Wooyoung’s” Jongho whines with a laugh. “I’m never getting my damage deposit back…”

~

Hongjoong has to chuckle to himself when San walks in, looking a little worse for wear, five minutes after his shift starts. He’s wearing one of Wooyoung’s shirts and he definitely wash his hair- it still stuck up in some places, part of it falling in his eyes. 

“How do you feel, Sannie?” Hongjoong asks, tilting his head, leaning against the counter for a moment. San just whines softly in response, glaring at the elder. Hongjoong chuckles, shaking his head at the poor kid. “If you need any more painkillers, there’s some in the office. If it’s your stomach that’s bothering you, i’ll make you a peppermint tea, yeah?” San huffs and nods, sliding his green apron on to start the day as his hungover head pulses painfully under his bed head. Jongho’s homemade breakfast had helped him feel a little more alive, but he had definitely gone overboard with the vodka the night before. He still didn’t know where his shirt was. 

“Yes, hyung, thank you.” San mumbles softly. 

Hongjoong felt fine, albeit a little tired, but that was normal for him anyways. He busies himself with helping a customer as San clocks in and gets prepared to work. He thinks he can handle it just fine, but Hongjoong keeps an eye on him anyways, not wanting it to end up like the fever situation from last time. 

San helps him make the drink, hands shaky and tired, but ultimately he doesn’t spill or drop anything this time, feeling proud of himself. He feels disgusting and whiny. 

When Jongho comes in, Hongjoong sends San on his break and San is more than happy to oblige, zombie-walking to the office to take more ibuprofen, and collapsing in the well-used desk chair to take a nap to sleep off the shakes and the headache. He drops the bottle of pills and curses to himself, but the lid was still on. Hongjoong appears a few seconds later with a tea for him and he’s thanked in a quiet mumble before San flops in the chair and closes his eyes. 

And such, the day continues on as usual. 


End file.
